Klopp intervenes because he 'loves both Guardiola and Nunez'

Coach Jurgen Klopp explains how he prevented a conflict between Pep Guardiola and Darwin Nunez after the Man City - Liverpool match in round 13 of the Premier League.

"I like both of them so I tried to calm the situation down," Klopp said in a press conference after the 1-1 draw at the Etihad. "I was completely uninvolved. I'm not sure if I'm the right person to explain this. I didn't understand a word and I don't really know what happened."

The Liverpool manager believes that the issue may simply be emotional. Guardiola wants to win and his team wants to win. When both sides fail to achieve their goals, conflicts like the one between Guardiola and Nunez are entirely possible. Klopp also believes that the incident is not related to the history of competition between the two clubs. "I don't think Nunez knows anything about that," the Liverpool manager added.

Jurgen Klopp pulled Darwin Nunez away from an argument with Pep Guardiola after the Man City 1-1 Liverpool match in round 13 of the Premier League on the evening of November 25, at the Etihad Stadium. Photo: AFP — Jurgen Klopp pulled Darwin Nunez away from an argument with Pep Guardiola after the Man City 1-1 Liverpool match in round 13 of the Premier League on the evening of November 25, at the Etihad Stadium. Photo: *AFP*

The collision happened right after the final whistle. Initially, Guardiola and Nunez happily shook hands. But after a few words, the two sides suddenly changed their attitudes. After being pulled away by coach Klopp, Nunez still pointed at Guardiola angrily. In the press conference, Guardiola did not clarify what he said to Nunez, and only joked that Klopp must have been stronger than him to be able to drag the Uruguayan striker away.

In this match, Man City opened the scoring in the 27th minute. After receiving a pass from Nathan Ake, Erling Haaland's shot deflected off goalkeeper Alisson's hand and scored. Although the match was not good, Liverpool still managed to get a point. In the 80th minute, after a pass from Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a cross-angle shot to tie the score at 1-1.

This result forced Man City to cede the top spot to Arsenal - the team that won 1-0 at Brentford. However, coach Guardiola affirmed that he was not disappointed but extremely satisfied with Man City's performance because after seven years of confrontation, he and his students both know how strong and tough Liverpool are. Guardiola added: "When they play, the match is like a heavy metal song. When Salah touches the ball, he never loses it."

In this match, Haaland reached the 50-goal mark in the Premier League, even becoming the fastest player in history to reach this milestone, needing only 48 matches. Haaland has only played for Man City since 2022. The 23-year-old striker scored 36 Premier League goals last season, a record in a season, and 14 goals this season.

"Only 50 goals," joked Guardiola. "Unbelievable. He almost had a second goal this time, with a deflection and a save. Then Liverpool equalised. These gaps are a problem in football."

After the Liverpool match, Man City lost the top spot in the Premier League to Arsenal. The London team now has 30 points, one point more than Man City and two points more than Liverpool.

Thanh Quy (according to Daily Mail )

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